


A Rose By Any Other Name Would Burn As Bright

by im_natsu_sure_about_this



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Arson, Burns, F/F, Fire, controlling parents, unimportant side character deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 16:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5548040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_natsu_sure_about_this/pseuds/im_natsu_sure_about_this
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there's one thing Ruby has learned by meeting Sapphire, its that burns are bad. They scar in ways you can't see, only feel. <br/>Two years after their first encounter, Ruby has almost forgotten her misfortune when Sapphire appears again in her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rose By Any Other Name Would Burn As Bright

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my grandma for all of the medical help and knowledge on burns. This fic was actually inspired by a news story I recently read. Hope you guys enjoy!

Two years ago

Ruby slammed her head down on the card table, groaning. “Uggghhhh, how much longer?” She had been gift wrapping books for almost three hours now. And her fingers hurt. Badly.

Amethyst looked up from her shredded wrapping paper pile to check her phone. “6 minutes.”

“Hopefully no more women come in here wanting us to wrap their sweatshirts. I mean come on! We’re in a book store.” Ruby lifted her head from the table in order to dramatically wave her hands. “This has been the worst three hours of my life.”

“Two hours and fifty-five minutes,” Amethyst corrected. “Besides it’s your fault for signing us up for three shifts.”

“I said I’m sorry. My email wasn’t working. And its volunteer work, so shut up. This should appease my mom for a while.”

“You could always just, I don’t know, get a job?” Amethyst said.

“Okay, but Am, think. That would require talking to people.”

“You’ve asked out ten girls in the past hour. I think you can manage.”

“That would require talking to important people that control my future.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Maybe they _should_ just bomb this place. Then you won’t have to go home.”

“Nah. Knowing my luck I’ll just break my leg or something and then my mom will get even more pissed.”

“Is that physically possible?”

“With my mom? Probably.”

“Excuse me?” A new voice entered the conversation.

Ruby’s head shot up, rocking the card table. Her eyes widened. “Holy shit, she’s hot,” Ruby whispered under her breath.

The owner of the sweet and calming voice was a high school girl with long blue hair. She swept her overgrown bangs to the side to reveal perfect eye makeup. On Ruby, the new girl’s hair and stylish clothes would look hideous, but on the blue-haired beauty, everything about her was gorgeous.

“Oh, um, yeah, hey.” Ruby’s mouth was somehow horribly dry. “Yeah, uh, books?”

The blue-haired girl nodded. “Two. They’re presents for my aunt. What do you get the woman who has everything, right?” Her lips presented a small smile and she pulled out the books, handing them to Ruby.

Ruby passed them straight to Amethyst, her grin widening by the second. Amethyst muttered a small angry “hey!” under her breath, but Ruby didn’t care. She was desperate to keep the conversation going. Besides, the books looked extremely boring, unlike the girl in front of Ruby.

However, Ruby had nothing to say. She just sat there, smiling. The girl with blue hair, looking slightly uncomfortable, turned her attention to the sign on the table. “Beach City Book Club? What are you guys doing in Ocean Town?”

“Oh, there’s no Barnes and Noble in Beach City. Plus, you’re probably wondering why the likes of the two of us are in a book club, right?”

“No! I wasn’t saying that-”

Ruby cut her off, laughing. “But you were thinking it.”

The blue-haired girl looked awkwardly down at her heeled boots.

“You see, both of us were never really readers,” Ruby gestured to Amethyst and herself. “But then _this_ one over here falls head over heels for the vice president of the book club, and drags me along with her. We ride together, we die together. Needless to say, the vice president got pneumonia third week of school and hasn’t been back since. It’s actually been pretty fun.” Ruby glanced over at her friend. Amethyst was already on the second book. Ruby needed to work faster.

She leaned back in the foldable plastic chair. “So, being such a pretty girl, aren’t you afraid of the bombing threats to the mall this weekend?”

The girl with blue hair went red.

“You have heard of them right?”

She nodded. “I’m an Ocean Town kid. Last few days of school before winter break were cancelled because of the bombing threats to the school.” The blue-haired girl ran her perfectly manicured hand through her hair.

Ruby sat up. “Personally, I don’t think the guy making all of the threats is a high schooler at all. Everything I read about it said they’re doing it because they got turned down by some girl and didn’t understand that no means no. But I mean, what high schooler calls it Ocean Town High? To pretty much everyone around here, it’s Ocean Town High School. Plus, you know how they just renamed this mall the Ocean Center? Everyone who’s lived here for a while still calls it Beach Crossroads. And resuming the school bombing threats on January 4th? School starts back up on January 5th, a Tuesday! Evacuating schools and public areas is just giving the bully what they want.” Ruby looked up from her rant smugly, expecting an impressed audience. But the girl just looked even more uncomfortable.

Amethyst had finished the books. “Here ya go.” The blue-haired girl nodded, grabbed the wrapped books, dropped some cash in the donations box, and was off without another word.

The second the girl was out of ear shot, Amethyst doubled over, dying of laughter. Ruby turned towards her, irritation etched on every crevice of her face. “What?” The single syllable sliced through Amethyst’s wheezing.

“Oh man, you failed. So badly. I’m dying. That was great.”

Ruby huffed.

“This is why you never get any girls, babe. You need to work on your technique.” Amethyst couldn’t stop grinning. “This is the best thing I’ve seen all day.”

Ruby angrily ignored her friend and turned to her phone. The time reading 12:06 and fifteen text messages from her mother regarding Ruby’s absence did nothing to improve her mood.

Ruby stood up quickly, the chair clattering to the ground. “I have to go,” she said sharply.

Amethyst dropped the smile. “Mom?” Ruby nodded. “Alright. See ya, Ru.”

“Bye, Am.” Ruby pushed open the outside door to the store. She sprinted towards a red van sitting at the curb, bracing herself for the yelling that would soon follow.

-

_Ding!_

Ruby rolled over on her side. Light blared through the curtains, and she could barely make out her brother Cooper’s music screeching downstairs. Ruby hated holidays because it meant the house was even more crowded than normal with all 17 kids together.

She unplugged her phone from the wall, bringing it closer to her face, careful not to wake Molly. Thanks to the extra 12 guests, everyone who lived in the house normally had to double up in beds. Ruby just happened to get stuck with Molly, infamous for her sleep-kicking and blanket hogging.

She sighed. Ruby needed to turn her ringer off before bed. Thankfully she was the only extremely light sleeper in the house, but being woken up at 6:29 by Amethyst’s spam texts was never fun. Especially when she wanted to sleep in during break.

Americium: Yo ru guess what

Americium: Guess guess

Americium: Okay cuz ur no fun

Americium: Ill just have to tell u

Americium: The guy making the threats was found by the police

Americium: Ye turns out he was a high school student lol

Americium: Hes a junior at ocean town

Americium: No bombs were dropped

Americium: Nobody died

Americium: But he was arrested

Americium: U owe blue hair an apology

Americium: I can see ur reading these

Americium: U could like idk text back or smth

Americium: Okay fine w/e

Ruby sighed. Amethyst texted so fast it was hard to get a word in otherwise.

‘Sorry family here stuck in bed w/ mo cant be too loud’

Americium: Its fine

Americium: Yo tell mg I said hi if shes there

‘Ye shes here’

‘But shes also 20 times out of ur league’

‘And 10 years older’

‘So good luck’

Americium: fuck u

Americium: bye gotta sleep

Americium: been up all night

‘Lmao’

Ruby shut off her phone and carefully snuck out of the covers. She tiptoed downstairs into the kitchen. Siblings lay across couches and air mattresses asleep, but two were already up. Cooper fiddled with his old record player, eyes drooping.

Ruby snuck up behind him. “I don’t see why you have to bring that piece of junk every time you visit.”

Cooper didn’t miss a beat. He turned, a grin growing, and picked up Ruby. “Hey! I haven’t seen you in forever Rubidium!”

“It’s Ruby.” She squirmed in his arms.

“Put her down, Cooper,” Maggie ordered from the kitchen table.

“Relax, Mags.” He set Ruby down. “And everyone knows you’re Ruby. I just can’t help but tease you. You haven’t lost your sense of humor have you?” Cooper ruffled Ruby’s already messy hair. He looked genuinely concerned.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Rebellious teenage years,” he said tearfully.

“Oh, cut it out,” Maggie said.

Ruby wandered over to her sister. “What are you reading?”

“Just some of Dad’s chemistry books. I left my law books back at school and I need to keep my mind sharp. But enough about me! You’ve grown so big!” Maggie enveloped Ruby in a warm hug. “Freshman, right?” Ruby nodded. “I didn’t get to see you last night when everyone came in.”

“Yeah. I went to bed early to avoid Mom’s wrath.”

Maggie nodded. “So now that I’m really reading about chemistry, I think I’m going to ditch law school and become a chemist. What do you think? And then I’ll have 17 kids and name them all after elements.” Maggie feigned a dramatic low voice. “I’ll be a practically famous chemist. Whadya say, Rubidium?” The two girls laughed.

“I say you should all shut up. I almost have it connected.” Cooper set the needle down on the record and a G note on the piano pierced the air. “Beautiful.” He looked up at the sky in admiration.

“Turn your emo music down! You’ll wake Dad!” Maggie hushed.

“Hey! You can’t truly appreciate My Chemical Romance until you hear it on vinyl!”

“Is that what you told your roommate when the dorm forbid you from using the record player indefinitely?” Maggie joked. Ruby stood up and went over to water her roses on the window sill. Maggie and Cooper’s arguments never ended.

“Shut up! You’re just jealous because I have Folie a Deux on vinyl and you don’t.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Maggie raised her arms in confusion.

Ruby finally snuck into the conversation. “Oh yeah, Mags, Amethyst says hi.”

Maggie smiled. “You’re still friends with that nerd? How time flies.”

Cooper frowned. “Amethyst would appreciate my music taste.”

-

More texts from Amethyst freed Ruby from family baking the next day. Her mom tried to fit everyone in the kitchen at once, and it was easy to sneak away.

Sitting on the closed toilet, Ruby opened her phone.

Americium: holy shit have u heard

Americium: yknow what im just gonna call u

Ruby picked up the call on the first ring. “What’s up? Beware, I’m hiding from family obligations in the bathroom.”

“Okay so, you remember how the guy was arrested yesterday? Well apparently, earlier today a bunch of his friends went and burned a girl’s house down. You know, the girl who turned the guy down that lead to all of the bombing nonsense? Well the house is just a pile of ashes. The girl’s body is over half covered in third degree burns and her other family members dead.”

“Oh my god. That’s horrible.”

“Yeah. And the worst part? It’s the blue haired girl from Barnes and Noble the other day.”

Ruby slipped onto the floor. “Oh my god. I can’t believe. Wow I. I’m such an idiot and a horrible person.”

“Yeah.”

“Am, I got to go.”

“Ruby, wait!”

Ruby hit the red end button and quietly exited the bathroom. Thankfully Maggie stood at the edge of the kitchen. Ruby grabbed her arm and pulled her sister into the adjacent hallway.

“I need your help.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to not ask questions, but drive me to the florist and then the Ocean Town hospital. You can’t tell anyone.”

“Why?”

“I’m in trouble.”

“With the law?”

“No. I was just a really horrible person to this girl and I need to make it up to her. It’s really important.”

“Okay. I have my purse by the front door. Let’s go.”

A pause. “I just hope you’re thinking this through. I know how you get.”

-

Ruby practically sprinted through the hospital’s front door and up to the front desk, 15 yellow roses in hand.

“Excuse me? I need to see the girl who was just burned in the house fire earlier today? It was arson? Third degree burns?”

The woman behind the desk raised her eyebrows. “Little boy, come back with your mother sometime.”

Ruby went red. “I’m a girl! And I’m 15!”

“Then come back next time you have your head on.”

“I need to see the girl! Now!”

“I bet you mean Sapphire Corundum, don’t you? Blue hair?”

Ruby nodded. But the woman laughed.

“You think a girl as burned as that would be here? She was taken to a special burn treatment center in a helicopter the second the firemen got her out of that house. Her body is so damaged from the fire it’ll be months before she’s getting any visitors. Especially random midgets off the streets. We’re talking millions of dollars in surgery, cosmetics, and physical therapy. Her body will never be the same again, and you think she’s here? We may be one of the nicer towns on this side of the state, but we could never help someone as hurt as poor Miss Corundum.”

Maggie raced through the doors. “Ruby!”

Maggie placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder and turned to the woman behind the counter. “I’m so sorry. My sister is very prone to overreacting. We’ll be on our way now.”

Maggie grabbed Ruby and pushed her out the doors. “What were you doing!? I’ve gotten 6 calls from your mother in the last five minutes from your mother. I thought I told you to think this through! We’re going home.”

Ruby looked back at the hospital and tossed the roses into a trash can, her phone dinging.

Americium: u just went to the hospital didn’t u

Americium: howd it go

Americium: was she even there

‘I failed’

‘Again’

**Author's Note:**

> Was the length okay? Too long, too short? I do not endorse Barnes and Noble, public bombings, public bombing threats, or arson.


End file.
